FROM THE GAME NOTES: Tonight marks the 24th time in Andy Pettitte’s career as a Yankee that he will start in the final game of a series with the Yankees trying to avoid a sweep…according to the Elias Sports Bureau, in his Yankees career, has gone 17-1 in those starts – including one win in an abbreviated two-game series…went 4-0 with 1ND in 2008 in such starts, including four road starts.

2B Robinson Cano extended his team season-high hitting streak to 12 games in Saturday’s loss at Boston, three games shy of his single-season career best (15G, 6/1-17/06)…is tied with Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena (4/8-19) and Baltimore’s Nick Markakis (4/13-current) for the longest hitting streak in the AL this season…is batting .366 (26-for-71) with 15R, 4 doubles, 5HR, 15RBI, 6BB and 1SB in his first 17 games of the season…his team-high 26 hits this month already surpass his entire April 2008 total (was 16-for-106, .151 in 29G)…has now hit safely in 16 of 17 games in 2009 and 27 of his last 28 contests dating back to last season, batting .398 (45-for-119) with 9 doubles, 6HR and 26RBI over the 28-game stretch.

The Yankees have played a total of 13 hours and 39 minutes of baseball over their last three games – 4:57 (4/23 vs. Oakland, 14 innings), 4:21 (4/25 at Boston, 11 innings) and 4:21 (4/26 at Boston, 9 innings).

INF/OF Nick Swisher has reached base safely in all 17 games in which he has appeared in 2009 and is the first player to reach base in each of his first 17 games with the Yankees since Matty Alou reached in 19 straight to start the 1973 season…has reached base 30 times in 71 plate appearances this season, batting .305 (18-for-59) with 13R, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 4HR, 13RBI and 11BB in 17G/15GS…recorded at least one hit in his first nine games with an official at-bat (4/8-4/16), marking the longest such streak to start a season in his career.

SS Derek Jeter needs 1RBI to surpass Bob Meusel (1,013) for sole possession of 10th place on the franchise’s all-time list…Jeter is also 4AB shy of tying Mickey Mantle (8,102) for most AB all-time in franchise history.

Wonderful! 4-0 in the 7th. Swisher just popped out after swishing at two strikes. The Yankees can’t even beat the Detroit Tigers. This is spiraling downward fast and nobody seems to be frustrated enough in Yankee management to say anything. By now, George would have been reading Girardi and the team the riot act! Seems like the boys are softer than the old man. No word from Crashman. Girardi keeps supporting his players and claps his hands to inspire his team even when they’re 5 runs behind. Doesn’t anybody care in the organization? Let’s see some spirit, some frustration, some anger, some emotion, some action!

Swish is at it again, living up to his name! Swish, swish! 2 strikeouts swinging. Man, he’s got to contribute more than he’s been doing the last few games. Two guys on base with no outs. Now 2 outs and the guys still standing on the same bases. This is repeated over and over this year.

How come we’re still commenting under the Yankees-Red Sox game of last night? The Blog didn’t update to tonight’s game it looks like it. Anyway, 4 strike outs already by the Yankees and it’s only the 3rd inning. it’s still early in the game but some of the same stuff is beginning to show up already. Let’s see how this one develops.

The thing I’m most upset about is Chamberlain’s lack of velocity! I hope he can cut loose on Wednesday and rebuild the arm strength! If he only lasts four or five innings and we have to turn to the pen, that’s OK to me!!!

BITCH, BITCH, BITCH.. We all have a right to bitch. This team just wasn’t ready to play Baseball. They’ve been much too busy reading PRESS releases on how good they are. And how they bolstered their pitching staff etc..ect.. They figured the opposing teams would just lay down and assume it’s the Yankees year.They are now finding out, Looking good on paper is not how the game is played, You must win on the field. Too many of them have been busy counting their MONEY, (Cano in “08, He finally woke up) Maybe they too will awaken and find to get to the Playoffs and the World Series they must first earn their way. I am hopingand praying this will happen soon.
I have been a YANKEE FAN since 1938, And I will die one.. Good or Bad. I’ve seen the great ones come and go, But that’s when they played for the love of the game. That my friends in long in the past. These guys are just not hungry enough, If and when they figure it out, I have a hunch they will come out on top.. We have the players that are capable of winning, Now we need a manager who will instill some fire in their bellies. Joe seems to be elsewhere and trying to figure where he is. He appears to be staring at the field with no expression on his face. He’s got to start managing and stop trying to be their friend. Toughen up Joe. I’M OFF “GO YANKEES!!” WE CAN DO IT!

I believe everything I’ve wanted to say about this weekend has already been spewed out. But I’d like to add this, having been a Yankees fan since 1954 I find myself in a position of really disliking
this team for the very FIRST time in my life, I mean really hating everything they stand for, Tradition, Guts, Soul, Fire…..just like Mantle, DiMag, Gehrig, Kubek, Ford, Williams, Mattingly…….and yes the Babe, THEY would never have been swept in Boston and you know that no one would have scored on them from Third especially a rookie. No my friends we are living through the worst time EVER in these Yankee years and unfortunetly I do not see the end to this nightmare. I agree with alot of you…FIRE GIRARDI, CASHMAN and bring in either Tom Kelly or Willie to right this sinking ship. The pain my body amassed this weekend in Boston was traumatic and it all comes down to the FIGHT or lack thereof.

This Yankee team can kiss my @$$! They suck! The first game I’ve been able to watch so far was last night’s. I thank GOD I’m not wasting $$$ on MLB.com to watch that garbage. This team can’t beat a NL team. Stat-Rod is no savior. Starts the fire sale today. Shouldn’t the ******* change their name to the whitesox? I’d say 90% of the team are caucasian. That’s refreshing.

There is no way we come out of Boston 0-3. That was an EASY 2-1 series win. There is nothing about Friday night that needed to be changed. 9th inning and Mo’s got a two run lead. Who here would change anything? None.

Saturday, we’re up 6-0 in the 5th. With Burnett on the mound. That’s a win too. Our pen on Saturday it wasn’t the pen that lost it. That game should have been over. Give any team like the Red Suchs an opening and they are going to exploit it. Our pen can pitch scoreless innings. There are going to be times when no one can stem the hits. Hitting is contagious.

I don’t think Girardi and company got their pitchers properly prepared for the regular season. The majority of the pitchers don’t have their typical command, their stuff isn’t looking like it should either. Yes it’s early, but other pitchers the Yankees are facing seem to be better prepared for the season. Train your guys and get them ready…

correction to the Ma-Waukee-Post. I know CC played for them, I meant the division Milwaukee is part of – Pitchers perform in the NL and rarely make a diff in the AL. True they must become acclimated to the AL hitters, but still.

I’ve been thinking about the problems since Torre left and maybe before and what I think is this: I think they are OVER COACHING these guys. Donnie Baseball leaves as hitting coach does the bench coach thing. New guy. On and on. Constant coaching changes – Girardi brings his own comrades. They are lousy, in my mind. Someone always changing the way these guys do business. Except for the newbies, LEAVE EM ALONE, ALREADY. A-Rod, Giambi (previously) and stars like this KNOW how to hit and play. Messes them up, I swear!

speer33,
See thats why myself and mm440, bpark go off during the game. Its easier to type shorter posts!!!HA HA
We’ll se what the MENTAL MIDGET and Crashman come up with, I don’t expect MUCH NEITHER seem to have a BRAIN!!
Yea ther is talent on this team BUT with out a MANAGER to help bring it out we’ll NEVER SEE IT!
Yea its early BUT remember WE ALL SAID THAT LAST YEAR!
They MUST start inproving this team NOW!!

I am SO tired of Andy pitching his big heart out to have these lackluster “stars” and old rookies mess him up. Speaking of pitching, a smart man’s rule of thumb would be: NEVER GET A STARTING PITCHER FROM THE NL.

Just look at the ones who tanked: Wright, Pavano the slug, and I am questioning C.C. because he isn’t showing squat. It’s one thing to blow away Ma-wauk-ee in their division, quite another to face Boston, Tronto and Tampa, etc.

The biggest mess up of all was letting Santana go to the Mets.

Bonehead “powers that be”…Swear it, WE could manage and staff this team better than the “brenners and the dumbest. overpaid scouts on the planet. Why can’t they find the Dustin’s the Ellsburys of the baseball world????

erik and mm40, I’m right there with you 2, however I just have been reserving from posting on here over the weekend, for fear of actually putting myself into the danger zone for a heart attack and/or stroke. Watching this team play lately has been one of the most disgusting things ever, I’d almost rather watch a bunch of 4 yr. olds play tee-ball or even worse yet, watch women’s softball… YUCK! This team plays with zero fire, and if I’m wrong, they sure as hell don’t show that they have any fire or desire to win any games. It’s like they go out there, go through the motions, so they can collect their damn paychecks. Cashman needs to get off of his *** and start making some moves. The bullpen is terrible, the starters so far have been basically awful (other than Pettitte, maybe there’s been 5 decent starts all season from the rest of the starters…), overall I’m just disgusted by watching this team. I understand it’s only April, and there’s still 140something games left, but seriously, the red flags are flying right now, and Cashman and Girardi need to figure something out to right their ship, or they won’t even reach 89 wins this season. Last year, the rotation was bad but the bullpen was great. Now, the rotation is supposed to be “on paper the best in the game” but they have hardly been pitching like it, oh and how about that great bullpen from last season? As of right now, I’m thinking that the entire Pirates’ pitching staff is looking like a bunch of All-Stars compared to the Yankees’ staff.
Girardi loves what Gardner’s speed can do to a game, well listen Joe, hate to burst your bubble, but if he doesn’t get on base (.220BA, .253OBP) his speed doesn’t mean SQUAT! Even if Gardner was as fast as Ellsbury (who’s numbers by the way are .289BA, .333OBP), unless he starts getting on base, he’s totally 100% worthless to this team. Melky’s had 3 good games, but other than that, he hasn’t done well since 2007. Maybe it’s time to bring up Austin Jackson and let him roam CF, because if he can’t do as well as Gardner or Cabrera in the lineup (both offensively and defensively), then a bomb needs to go off throughout the whole organization and they need to start restructuring the way they do things. Their scouting department needs to start being held accountable for their blunders and miscues and what not. How could Girardi turn the Marlins around, with a bunch of no-names and prospects, but he can’t even light a fire under this team of All-Stars. That sounds totally bass-ackwards to me, please tell me I’m not the only one that sees this…. I’m done posting for now, I swear my blood pressure is going through the roof right now GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR >:O!!!

No mm440 stay the course I have been cracking up at your post. By the way TRUE Yankee fans ought to be pissed. Too bad this team isn’t pissed at itself. Where the hell is Paul O’Neill when you need him?

One other comment. During the 1977-78 season Thurman Munson as Yankee captain called players out collectively. His bantering with his manager and players like Reggie Jackson made headlines. Sorry folks I think Derek Jeter deserves some questioning here. He’s the captain, has been the captain and yet hardly says a thing publically. I don’t want to hear about he leads by example. That model has not worked. One time in his career Jeter wanted more rings then Yogi. I guess with all the $$ that goal has gone by the board to.

Who knows, Maybe BOTH will go, remember the Stadium IS NOT selling out, Fans are getting edgy and calling for both of their heads and with the Steinys loosing money maybe HANK AND HAL will see the light and BOOT BOTH OF THEM…

He still had fire with the Marlins and I believed he would bring that fire to the Yankees. I saw him as 50% Billy Martin and 50% Joe Torre. Needless to say he cotinues to be a disappointment. Still think that if someone’s head needs to be cutoff it’s Crashman. However, I see Girardi gone before him.

mm440 actually my father was a major league player and am in lawschool, but because am a little tired you feel the need to bash me when you don’t even know me. I guess some people are just low class like that ! God bless you somebody has too.

When Girardi managed the Marlins the players were all young and he was the only experienced man on the bench. He’s all they had so he comes here to the Yankees who almost every player on the bench had MORE experience than him. He takes away their candy what the hell do you expect?
Don’t forget he played with half of them> That itself is NOT GOOD…

Well Randolph is BETTER THAN GIRARDI, I always HATED Girardi Even whe he played here, People DO NOT remember he is a CUB – NOT A YANKEE!!! I was glad when he left and CRIED LIKE A LITTLE girl when he returned!!!
GIRARDI IA A CUB–NOT A TRUE YANKEE!!

OmG! Am embarresed for them. I used to have a fight with those dreadful Redsox fans now what? I always enjoyed Yankee baseball now i don’t even want to watch anymore cause i get a pain in my gut. I haven’t seen a desire, motivation, or energy to win anymore. It is sad. Is Steinberg reading these comments by the fans? Fire Giraldi we been going down hill since he came on board. At least with Torres we made it to the post season with a passion. 3 generations and the players r making too much money they don’t have to work 4 it anymore.

Gehrig27 you have hit the nail on the head. Crashman has no clue and the MAIN reason why Boston continues to do better than the Yankees is that Epstein gets it and Crashman doesn’t. If Yankee fans want a head on a platter start with Crashman.

seeknay51,
Valintine and Mattingly ARE BOTH better baseball people. Girardi is NOT EVEN A PIMPLE ON EITHER ONE’S ***!!!!
Both have WAY MORE EXPERIENCE than Girardi, I agree about Pena I just threw his name out there? Hughes should have been up here 2 weeks ago… NOT IN TIGERTOWN…

I know all this has been said before, and maybe a lot of times, but why not repeat it:
The Yankees are in some aspects a better team than the 2008 version. Having said this, I also believe that there are two criteria to be considered if the team wants to improve –there´s always ways to improve a team-: balance and depth.
The 2008 version had too many lefties in the lineup, lacked speed and better defense, and did not have a guaranteed first starter in pitching, while the bullpen needed a long reliever and there was also the question mark of the set up and the lefty reliever.
But come April 2009, something to be taken into account by the decision-makers was the obvious fact that with twelve pitchers arriving from spring training, ONLY THREE –Rivera, Burnett, and Marte- were older than 30 years old. Which is good, except for this: of the seven pitchers in the bullpen, Rivera and Marte are the only ones with more than two complete seasons in MLB.
Regarding the BULLPEN: Cashman has NEVER been able to replicate this combo (not that he has cared a lot either):
Ramiro Mendoza-Mike Stanton-Jeff Nelson-Rivera.
Meanwhile, let´s check the situation of some rivals:
Phillies: Durbin-Romero-Madson-Lidge
Boston: Masterson-DelCarmen-Okajima-López-Papelbon [now, also Ramírez-Saito-Smoltz]
Angels: Arredondo-Oliver-Shields-Fuentes
Tampa Bay: Bradford-Howell-Balfour-Wheeler-Percival
Etc.
2008 had already proved, once again, that if in short series you don´t have a dependable bullpen you go nowhere…Was something done? Nothing. Nada. Nichts…
Some names were mentioned for the bullpen during winter. By the way, one of them, Juan Cruz, is doing pretty well for the Royals right now. He could have been a very much needed veteran setup.
Right now, what I would certainly dislike would be to keep seeing a GM who doesn´t even acknowledge these problems the team is facing, like he did in 2008 and even before. Let´s all hope Mr. Cashman has finally learned from his past failures.
The bench must not be overlooked. During winter, many proposals appeared on this blog, definitely addressing the problem of lack of depth regarding the replacements. I even wrote that “a veteran infielder, who could play third base, some other infield position, maybe the outfield (letfield?) from time to time, could be considered. There are still some names out there.” Cashman did nothing. And still he does nothing.
Remember: contrary to the pitching staff, the projected lineup: Damon, Jeter, Teixeira, ARod, Matsui, Posada, Cano, Nady, Gardner/Cabrera, have 5 veteran, more than 30-year-old players, two of them returning from injuries. Help from the bench was needed and had to be considered.
Now, I am reading that the injuries are becoming the perfect excuse for a general manager and a manager that have not got their job done so far. It is true that injuries are part of the game; but one would expect –especially from a general manager who has almost unlimited leverage at the moment of having money to spend- that the much needed balance and depth, the only protection when facing injuries, should have been addressed.
Boston may or may not go to the post season this year (hopefully, they won´t) but you have to accept the fact that Theo Epstein did his job properly, in relation to the pitching staff. One example: Not only they have Jonathan Papelbon as closer; if anything happens, they also have Okajima, Saito and John Smoltz as experienced, veteran, successful closers. That´s what I mean when I say a general manager must create depth in his team. (Haven´t they lost their two shortstops, Lugo and Lowrie, and their second starter, Matsuzaka, and they still win?)
Why nobody, from Cashman down, noticed the possibility of bringing JJ Putz as set up? In fact, the interest for him to become a Yankee was bigger; he could realize that in two-three years Mariano might retire, and then he would have become the team´s closer; Minaya convinced him instead to become the set up for a 27-year-old, in his prime, Francisco Rodríguez.
In Cashman´s world, the equivalent to bringing John Smoltz –a veteran, who will not pitch from the get-go, is…Sergio Mitre!
In Cashman´s world, among the several options the team had about Marte, he decided to sign him and give him a three-year, 12 Million $ deal. You know what? Of the following FIVE lefty free agents, none got more than two years, and together they got 8.6 Million: Brian Shouse, Dennys Reyes, Trever Miller, Will Ohman, and Joe Beimel. Is Marte better than some of them? Maybe. But no way he is better and deserves more money and contract time than the whole five!
I still believe it was OK Swisher was brought in; but let´s accept the fact that, in Cashman´s original plan, he was supposed to be the everyday first baseman; when Teixeira arrived, wasn´t the possibility of trading Swisher clearly discussed?
Bottom Line: I think that Brian Cashman, over the years, has given more than enough reasons why he should not be the Yankess GM…And when and if everybody, especially the Steinbrenners, begin to announce Girardi´s downfall, let´s all remember who the main responsible has been for the last 9 years of all the trades and acquisitions the team has made…(By the way, why not mentioning that Humberto Sanchez, one of the stars of the future according to Cashman´s Gospel, was just released; or that the Pittsburgh´s staff, up to now among the best this year, includes as starters Ross Olenhdorf and Jeff Karstens, which they got, together with Daniel McCutchen and another rookie for Marte and Xavier Nady –the one who was supposed to be better than Bobby Abreu).

OH yea by the way TORRE IS IN FIRST PLACE AND his team L@@KS GOOD!!’
DO YOU HERE THAT HAL!!!
DID YA HERE THAT CRASHMAN!
Cashman is a WASTE OF HIS MOTHERS AND FATHERS SWEAT!!
Cashman and Girardi BOTH MUST GO!!!

erickson who replaces Girardi? I believe it’s when not if with him. So who replaces him?

By seeknay51 on April 26, 2009 11:22 PM

Listen I really don’t care WHO THE HELL they replace him with, but a few names off the top of my head, Valintine,Pena,Randolph,Mattingly,WHO CARE JUST GET THE IDIOT out of her before it is to late.
NO MOTIVATION, NO FIRE, WTF is he doing… It was his idea NOT TO HAVE LONG RELIEF in the PEN, HIS idea to go with Ransom. WTF, his bullpen SUCKS along with the starting pitching and he brings up position players???/ WHAT??? Where is Hughs bring up some pitching to carry you a couple of days. I was screaming to place WANG on the DL after his 2nd start BUT NO another 2 weeks wasted, NO HUGHES..

I’m as disgusted as any Yankee fan but I think this teams’ problems go beyond Girardi. I have repeatedly stated that the GM is a bozo who should have been replaced with a baseball mind. The minor league system is loaded with incompetents and they should have been gutted three years ago. Someone needs to call this team out and blast them, instead of just fans doing it.

I can’t really place much blame on the Yanks’ farm system, it’s just next to the Red Sox’s it looks postively adolescent. I’m not sure if that’s due to Yankee scout ineptitude or just Boston excelling. Other than a big bat to replace Ortiz, they’re pretty much stacked everywhere with ludicrous amounts of pitching. It does bother me though, given the Yankees inexperienced bullpen, why they didn’t take a shot at getting Saito? He wasn’t demanding Linebrink money or anything.

No surprise!! Swept by a better team all round, better pitching, better hitting, better fielding, better management!! What can you say? What a disaster and I don’t see it getting better any time soon, if ever. I’m not sure they can even beat the Tigers the way they’re playing right now.

The Yankees SUCK, The Yankees SUCK, Funny how that just seems to fit NOW!!
Thanks You BASTON FANS……
NO Thank you to the OVERPAID, UNDERACHIEVING, P.O.S. Players on this Pathetic TEAM!!
Thank YOU Girardi and YOUR BUNCH OF MENTAL MIDGETS you call YOUR Coaching Staff….
Thanks To CRASHMAN for NOTHING…
Thanks to HANK AND HAL for having NO BALLS…

GIRARDI MUST GO!!
This team hs no FIRE, just look at he Boston Players THEY WANT IT, THIS TEAM DOES NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wrd3990 what is amiss is a team that has no heart, no desire and no will to win. They are led by a manager that I believed would light a fire under his team and instead has adopted the mentality of who he succeeded. Girardi needs to start calling his team out and start questioning their desire to win. Instead he has sat there and remained quiet. You play with passion and Joe has NONE so his team has NONE.

Again I ask the question if Girardi is to go (and I think it is a matter of time when that happens) who the hell replaces him? This team needs a swift kick in its ***. Like I have posted before, different year, same *HIT. And for God sakes will Hal & Hank grow a pair and get rid of Crashman instead of rewarding this ***. Crashman is the problem!!!

I have hope. It’s early, but I have that nagging feeling that the Yankees no longer have the “heart” that is so important in winning. They do not look like a championship-contending team. I look at Boston, Tampa, and I see good, young, hungry position players and pitchers. Something is radically wrong with the Yankees scouting network. Why don’t they have these young, talented players? I really don’t understand it – something is amiss from the tippy top down.

Bring in the rookies! What choice does Girardi have? The offence has stunk for the Yankees tonight and they let Ellsbury turn the game around by running the bases and stealing home. The club is in disarray and the big name, big money players they’ve brought in haven’t done it for them up to this point. They don’t have enough good pitchers in the bull pen and they don’t have a deep enough bench. They don’t even have a bona fide good hitter on the bench they can bring in to pinch hit. A few injuries and they’re in serious trouble. This is going south in a hurry!

WOW this team is just digging a hole that soon is going to be TO BIG TO FILL, By the time A-ROID gets back I think it won’t matter anymore…
WHAT AN JOKE!!
This team is NO BETTER THEN LAST YEAR!
WHY?
After all the money spent, to bring quality players here, WHY?
IT has to go further than what is showing? Has to..
IS IT GIRARDI AND HIS MERRY MENTAL MIDGETS…
TELL ME WHY?
I’ll TELL YOU-YES IT IS

WOW just listening to ESPN makes me sick. Why don’t they just get on thier knees and BLOW the WHOLE BAASTON LINEUP.. WOW I mean come on fat *** joe and the other ******* just slobbering all over BAASTON GAG ME! Oh I mean GAG them….

Whiff, whiff, whiff! That’s all the Yankee hitters are doing tonight. Cabrera swinging out of the strike zone at a high pitch for the 3rd out. Can’t bring the runner in from 2nd base. It’s really awful the way this team is playing. Red Sox has their number and are cleaning their clock game after game. They have to give a pass to Youkilis and then Big Pappy hits a double. Get the old broom out because this is going to be a sweep. They’ll soon be in 4th place with Tampa Bay nipping at their behind. Even Baltimore won tonight as well as the jays.

here we go!! Tied 1-1 in the 5th. No offence and then a stupid play like Ellsbury stealing home. Petitte is vulnerable as a lefty with a guy on 3rd and he has his back to him. Posada should have seen Ellsbury breaking for home and stepped on the plate. That is inexcusable! First time Boston has had a player steal home in 10 years!! Then Ortiz hits a double and brings in two more runs. Now the Yankees are having to play catch up if they hope to win at least one game of the series!! Petitte had pitched around 100 pitches and was obviously tiring but Girardi is afraid to go to his bull pen because they’re whipped after last night and besides none of them are very reliable anyway! Anyway, the Yankees can find to lose lately they’re finding it. It’s becoming a joke but no true yankee fans are really laughing! It’s sad.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.